Wargame Night 02-13

On February 9th, Tim, Ross, Eric (yes, Eric) and myself got together and played Twilight Imperium. The following races were randomly chosen.

Eric - Universities of Jol-Nar
Ross - Mentak Coalition
Tim - L1z1x Mindnet
Bruce - Barony of Letnev

Everything was set-up as usual for a four-alien game within a 3-ring map (sorry for all the dashes). The map was painted red to keep the spirit of exploration alive and well within the Twilight Imperium universe. The wormhole nexus was placed and ancient artifacts were ensconced in the proper hexes in good order.

The map was set-up with red sides up to mask our planet and system placement. As the game got going, I knew I had a tough secret objective because I needed to occupy Mecatol with 6 dreadnaughts and space dock and some troops. It seemed I could achieve this secret objective if only I could get to Mecatol Rex. Not a problem!

As I ventured forth from Homeworld, I decided to take a detour and seize the artifact conveniently located exactly midway between Ross's Mentak Coaltion and myself. Thankfully, I got there first and was rewarded with a victory point right away. I also felt it prudent to lay some mines for good measure in the system containing the ancient artifact. And wouldn't you know it, but Ross started sending some large capital ships near the system trying to find the right time or right excuse to attack there when it suited the Mentak Coaltion's alien agenda.

As it was, I was saved by Tim's L1z1x Mindnet bell! It was at this time that Tim decided to go George Zimmerman on Ross' Trayvon Martin by falling upon the peaceful world of El Nath with many warships and troops. And boy was it a slugfest, much to my glee. Ross insisted on keeping this piece of galactic real estate at all costs and Tim also felt it was much needed regardless of his costs. And pay they both did. Ross lost all of his cruisers which consisted nearly 70% of his fleet. Tim in turn lost somewhere between 3 and 4 Dreadnaughts as the system of El Nath became littered with the detritus and debris of shattered vessels and wrecked fleets.

In the meantime, Eric decided to make a bold move and seize Mecatol Rex much to my chagrin. He took it effortlessly, if I recall. Amazingly, it was in this game that both Eric and I were able to complete not just one or two but three "Transfer Actions" in the game between the both of us. As you may or may not know, transfer actions have become a source of heated debated whether they are really necessary and merely window dressing that we have yet to understand all of its implications.

As it were, Tim eventually took over El Nath from Ross after much death and destruction. Ross sued for peace. But apparently, Tim would not brook weakness from his enemy. He continued to press forward towards Ross' homeworld and eventually surrounded it and occupied it. Ross was left with merely two systems to lick his wounds with the remaining demoralized and defeated fleet of the Mentak Coaltion. Eventually, Ross would soon feel the shameful boot of occupation as Tim repeatly bitch-slapped Ross with demands that even I couldn't stomach. Indeed. Tim lived up to his moniker - Lord Hideious! It was pathetic I have to say! I kept reminding Ross that he still had dignity and didn't have to accept licking Tim's black boots of oppression. It became apparent that Tim was occupying his home world for his Secret Objective and I believe he indeed received his 2 points for doing just that.

I could see at this time that Tim was amassing for an invasion of my empire. Therefore, I ordered all cruisers to lay mines throughout the Letnev systems of control. Nearly every hex that I controlled had a space mine. And I believe that forced Tim to accept his fait accompli and reverse course back to his homeworld. As the game started to wind down, it was apparent that the game was going to end up being a tie between Eric and Tim...so I made a strategic decision and evacuated an outer system containing another artifact worth 1 victory point and let Eric occupy it in hopes that he would win the game. But alas, Tim drew the Imperium Rex public objective card which ended the game immediately in Tim's favor.

Tim got first place. Eric got second place. I got third place and Ross was dead last in fourth place. It was an interesting and exciting game even with just four players. Another great game.

Wargame Night 01-2013



On January 12th, Ross, Tim, Bob and myself got together for the first wargame of the new year and played Twilight Imperium Third Edition, Shattered Empire. The following races were randomly chosen:

 

Bruce - Clan of Saar

Tim - Federation of Sol

Bob - Brotherhood of Yin

Ross - Sardakk Norr

 

We decided to create the map with red sides up for maximum surprise. So far, we haven't had any troubles with map creation following this method but someday it may prove to be a problem as someone will probably be unable to leave homeworld due to hazards like supernovae or ion storms.

The wormhole nexus was placed and the artifact tokens were randomly chosen and placed on the red hexes. We agreed that if an artifact was discovered in an open space hex, supernova or any other red-sided hex space then it would be considered lost.

As the Clan of Saar, I had the special ability to move my space docks but then I read that I could only move "or" build at the same time. Unfortunately, I was used to building and moving at the same time in other games.

Needless to say, I ventured forth cautiously but optimistically in hopes of securing a world of peace and harmony. Alas, it was not to be. I had the clever but sneaky Ross on my left side and the troglodyte Bob on the right side. Neither one can be trusted for very long. Eventually I did discover a wormhole and was able to warp on into the Wormhole Nexus with the planet Malice featured prominently in this space zone. Everywhere I went I dropped mines from my nimble cruisers including dropping some in orbit around the planet Malice.

As the game wore on, it was apparent that Tim was gearing up for an occupation of Mecatol Rex. He had expanded near the border of Mecatol and was fully prepared to invest it fully with capital ships of the line and a number of expeditionary troops to compliment it.

But Ross, like a loose canon on a rolling deck, used an action card against Tim (Signal Jamming) and forced him to place a command counter on his fleet that was amassing for the invasion of Mecatol. As a result, this forced Tim to wait one more round before he could launch his glorious invasion. Unfortunately for Tim and fortuitously for Bob, this allowed the Brotherhood of Yin to move on into Mecatol Rex unmolested by Tim's forces of the Federation of Sol on that turn. For the Brotherhood of Yin, there was much rejoicing. And yet, Bob was not collecting any victory points for occupying the regal planet of Mecatol while the rest of us contemplated our next moves.

With Tim bogged down near Mecatol with nearly all of his forces, Bob preoccupied on Mecatol and Ross gearing up for an attack on the Federation of Sol, I decided to make a bold move from the Wormhole Nexus. I had noticed that Tim had a wormhole next to his homeworld and with my forces building up on Malice in the Wormhold Nexus I figured it would be a simple jump to his homeworld with enough forces to occupy it and prevent him from garnering any more victory points. Up till now, he had two ancient artifacts but with his homeworld occupied by my forces then he would not be allowed to collect any additional points per game rules. Thus, we revved up our FTL Drives and appeared in orbit around his homeworld in force enough to take out what token forces were left behind in addition to killing a leader, I believe an agent in fact, by our landing. Much to the Federations' angst, the invasion was a success. Naturally, once the planet was secure, I dropped an additional mine from my cruiser for good measure. If Tim was going to take it back, it was going to cost him dearly.

In the end, however, Tim was unable or unwilling to retake his homeworld. For Bob, the occupation of Mecatol Rex paid off for him. In addition to collecting points for other objectives, Bob was able to secure first place for the night. Ross' patience and strategic planning placed him into second. Amazingly, Tim was still able to hold third place in spite of my treachery. Again, I tied with Tim for third place as well.

A great game to start off the new year!

Wargame Night 12-12

 In December, Bob, Tim, Ross and myself got together for 2012's final game night tournament. I decided to pull out Shogun since Ross had never seen nor played the game. As far as the tournament was concerned, Bob was 2 points behind Tim who was in first place. Bob needed to basically reduce Tim to fourth place in Shogun and seize first place on top of that not only to win the game but the tournament as well.

I played black, Bob played blue, Tim played red and Ross was yellow, er, played yellow.


I personally wanted to stay away from Tim and let Bob go at him for the tournament cup therefore, I set up my initial armies in and around the small island of kyushu in the pink zone (please don't read too much into that). Tim pretty much set up in the far north and hunkered down for a battle royale. Ross, like the proverbial loose canon he is, set up in the central part of Japan in the most inhospitable area on the gameboard in terms of survival. Bob also chose the central and southern areas to consolidate his holdings.

As the game got going, it become clear that Bob was going to try hold every territory he had and not let one go to further his war aims. I decided therefore, to attack Bob in the southern area of Japan to force his hand upon Tim up north. I nearly drove Bob out of southern Japan except for one lone outpost of Kai. Naturally, the Herg beefed up this lone outpost to the hilt!

Needless to say, Bob held on to that outpost for the duration of the game much to my Japanese chagrin. However, in spite of Bob's intransigence, I was still able to consolidate my holdings in the entire pink zone and was the sole shogunate for that area. In addition, I was able to construct enough buildings to monopolize the region and earn extra points for the only Castle, Kabuki Theatre and Shinto Temple in that region. By the first year, I had a solid lead ahead of everyone else.

As the second and final year got going, Bob needed or some one needed to reduce Tim to fourth place but the dirty deed had yet to be done. Basically, as the Tim held up in the north it fell upon either Ross or Bob to destroy Tim's ability to consolidate his area before he would gather his points in the last season of the year. Both Bob and Ross did in fact battle Tim for central Japan but alas, by the fourth season in the second year, it was just too late. Tim held out with ease against a numerically superior but disunited enemy in the persons of Bob and Ross.

The final outcome of the game had myself in first place, Tim in second place, Bob in third and Ross in fourth. We decided that whoever should come in last would have to leave gamenight in honor by enduring the only way a true Shogun can endure such humiliation: by performing Hari Kari. Thus, Ross knelt down and drew his samurai sword for the coup de grace. I as the victorious Shogun made sure I had the final say.

And so, the final act of the final night of Kriegspiel Nacht 2012 was befitting with Ross' head rolling down the hallway and Tim taking the now famous and infamous silver trophy and claiming the title of Kriegspiel Champion of 2012.

The final tournament score was:

Tim:     32 points
Bob:     35 points
Bruce:  50 points
Ross:    59 points
Wayne: 75 points
Eric:    105 points

I have to say that Tim played exceptionally well regardless of the type of game played. Bob also played extremely well coming back from way behind to almost take the cup. I had a rather rough year as I kept on getting 3rd or 4th place almost every month. Ross, being the rookie, suffered for his lack of experience, however, I have a sneaky suspicion that 2013 is going to be more competitive for him. Wayne actually did very well and could have clinched it this year had he not moved away to Tennessee. As for Eric, well hopefully, 2013 will be a more productive year and I would just love to see him take the Trophy for 2013 just to prove to everyone that indeed he can live up to his German origins and be the Hun he was always meant to be!

Now, with the advent of the New Year, the Kriegspiel Tournament begins anew with all scores reset to zero. Will Tim hold onto his well earned trophy or will another Champion arise to seize his prized possession?

Only time will tell.



Wargame Night 11-12

In November, Tim, Bob, Ross and myself got together for Settlers of Cataan: Seafarers. We haven't played this game since I bought it last year and I thought it would be interesting to play. In addition, if we played two games then our scores for the tournament would be doubled as well. Unfortunately, for those that didn't show, and you know who you are, then your tournament scores would be doubly "awarded".

As it were, I decided to place my first settlement on a 8-9-10 hex combination. It seemed to work at first and I was able to capitalize on a lot of stuff that came to my way. But as time went on I went into a recession of sorts and lost my way. Tim and Bob placed their first settlements on the westerly island whereas, Ross and I chose to hunker down on the more larger easterly island.

In this game we later came to find out that ships themselves could alter their course after they have been placed during the build phase on another turn. Thus, the ship at the furthest end of the line could be picked up and placed on another path next to another ship or harbor/settlement thus allowing the player to go off in different directions if he so desired. However, the placing of a pirate ship in the hex where ships are prevents them from moving until such time the pirates are driven off.

I was the red team and Tim was the white team which I believe makes him a racist? Don't know for sure but we both aimed for the opposite ends of the unknown section of the board looking for the mysterious and elusive "gold" hex. The owner of the gold hex, that is, the colonizer of the gold hex receives any resource he desires if the number on that gold hex is rolled.

Eventually, Tim outplayed me and surrounded the only gold hex on my side of the board and prevented me from settling this venerable but highly sought for piece of real estate. Bob was the orange player and absolutely refused to build any ships to contest the other players over the gold hexes. Ross as the blue player was the first to discover a gold hex and built a settlement on it. However, I don't believe it did him much good as he only scored once or twice from it.

Surprisingly, Tim was able to pull into first place yet once again even though he started off poorly. Bob surprisingly placed second on a non-naval platform and I came in third with Ross unfortunately in fourth place.

In the second Settlers game, Bob got first place, Ross got second place, Tim and myself tied for third place. Yet again, I seem to be predisposed to third place. Ross I'm sure felt good getting into 2nd place.

Now for some stats. The first game was played up to 16 rounds. The second was played up to 19 rounds. For both games the most popular number was "8" - it came up 8 times in the first game and a whopping 13 times in the second game. The number "8" is clearly the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in Settlers.

The second most common number rolled was "5,6 & 11" in the first game as these numbers equally came up 7 times, however the number "10" did show up a healthy 6 times. In the second game, far and away the second most popular, the number "6" came up, again a whopping 12 times with "5 & 10" coming up 8 times equally in third. However, the number "11" did drop off precipitously in the second game only being rolled 3 times in a 19 round game. So, it appears from both games that the number combo of "5,6, & 10", is a powerful combination not to be trifled with or ignored and to do so invites great peril.

Naturally, the dread pirate/robber came up 6 times in the 16 round game and 9 times in the 19 round game.

The least performing numbers in both games were the numbers "2 & 12". The first game they only came up 3 times each. In the second game, only the "12" came up one time! With the number "2" not being rolled once! Stay away from these two outlier numbers. Of course, we may roll differently on the next game.

Interestingly, the numbers "3 & 4" were the most consistent in both games - coming up 6 times each in both games! And surprisingly, the number "9" which should be a strong number was relatively weak only coming up 5 times in both games.

Should be curious how we play next time.

Wargame Night 10-12

In October, Bob, Tim, Ross and myself got together for Twilight Imperium Shattered Empire. The following races were randomly selected:

Tim - Naalu Collective
Bob - Clan of Saar
Ross - The Yin Brotherhood
Bruce - Universities of Jol-Nar

We decided to go with a "3 ring map" instead of our usual "4 ring map" to keep it simple. However we did turn the map red for maximum surprise and indeed it seemed I suffered the most with very little to choose from as far as planets were concerned as systems placed around me were meager pickings as I later found out.

Tim on the other hand was completely non-plussed by the one advantage that gave the Naalu their edge against the other races - they get to always go first. Tim always prefers to go last and as a result his own racial advantage was a disadvantage to his playing style. That didn't stop him from being ruthless, however. Tim and I did bump up against other and I did seize two artifacts which game me 2 victory points, albeit temporarily.

Bob as the completely mobile Clan of Saar slowly ventured out of his wolf den only to turn around at the last moment and place every single ship he owned back onto his homeworld thus leaving his nearby systems completely naked to rape and pillage by neighboring races. Amazingly, neither Tim nor Ross took advantage of Bob's tail between his legs.

Ross as the Brotherhood of Yin began a steady and slow exploration of nearby systems and had placed the Warfare Red Alert token on his ships for a quick shot to who knows where? The quirky but sly Ross didn't let on as to where he was going and so I picked the Diplomacy Strategy card and ensured he wouldn't invade me that turn.

Well, to make a long story short, Bob built up his fleet and suddenly burst forth from his lair and scrapped with Tim over some planets in his sphere of influence. Ross invaded Mecatol Rex and Tim headbutted me over an artifact on some no-name planet that I just can't seem to remember. In the end, Bob got first place with 8 pts. Tim got second place with 7pts and Ross and I tied for third place with 4 points.

For some odd reason it was a rather intense game if I recall correctly. Perhaps it was due to the smaller map and to the fact we each had to choose 2 Strategic Agenda cards that made the game so on edge.

For some odd reason I keep getting in 3rd place. Perhaps it's due to the absence of Eric? I just don't know. Surely, it can't be me.

Next time!

3rd Quarter Kriegspiel Nacht Tournament Update

Well, the last three months from July thru September Bob and Tim traded places between 1st and 2nd place. Bob went into the 3rd quarter finally arresting Tim's lead with a strong first place finish in June. However, even though July was a bad month for me, no other players were awarded for being absent from game night.

August saw Tim absent from game night and in spite of Bob's third place showing he did manage to pull ahead in the tournament score. One interesting side note, Wayne was well on his way in seizing first place from Tim and Bob were it not for his untimely move to Tennessee. Had he played in September and won 1st place it would have been quite possible that it would have been a 3-way battle for 1st place in the tournament at this time.

That being said, September's game night Bob did not show up and with Wayne gone, Tim made 1st place, again! Thus, Tim now takes a small but measurable lead over Bob but it is still his to lose. I'm afraid barring any unforeseen circumstances, this tournament is a battle royale between Tim and Bob. May the best man win!

As for the rest of us, I suppose we could play the "kingmaker" and like the Survivor Jury decide who we will "vote" for by attacking and defeating either one of them in pitched battles. Gunna get ugly, I'm sure.

As for the remaining "Holiday" 4th Quarter, good luck and good hunting.

Wargame Night 09-12

Wargame Night was held on September 8th and only included 4 players this time - Tim, Ross, Tim's friend Frank and myself. Unfortunately, both Bob and Eric were no shows and were duly punished with 10 points added to each of their tournament scores. We decided to play Twilight Imperium and the following races were randomly chosen:

Bruce - Clan of Saar
Frank - Mentak Coalition
Tim - Xxcha Empire
Ross - Naalu

We decided to build the galaxy with only a 3 ring map instead of our standard 4 ring map, thus making a smaller area to play in. We also wanted to build the galaxy with each hex tile facing down but Frank came up with a great idea that only the red-sided hex tiles should be left facing up so all players may see them and no red-sided hexes were to be placed next to each other thus ensuring rules and regulation integrity. So, most of the map was a sea of red with the exception of the red-sided hexes displaying nebulas, ion storms and supernovae for all to see and appropriately placed apart from each other.

As it was, as I went to explore my sphere of influence I kept finding nothing but empty space hexes! Basically, on such a small map I was surrounded by 6 hexes of empty space and 3 red-sided hexes that included a nebula, an ion storm and asteroids! Needless to say, I was starving for planets. Thankfully, I was the clan of Saar and could move my space docks but nevertheless, we were one hungry puppy! Very few planets left me with little choice but to take Mecatol Rex or invade someones homeworld. So I decided on Mecatol Rex.

Being that this was a 4 player game, we all had to choose two strategy agendas per turn and thus the public objective cards kept being placed every turn. Nevertheless, everyone was slow in getting points. On top of this, Ross unfortunately had to leave early and thus his empire was devoid of leadership. We decided to keep all of his forces on the map where they were and if we wanted to we could feed off the carcass of his empire should we feel the need. Which of course we did.

All of us by this time had barely registered on the victory point scale. Tim was in the lead with a mere 2 points albeit tied with the absent Ross and his 2 points. I believe Frank had 1 point and I had absolutely nothing to show for. As time was running out I grew desperate. Ross earlier had been given an action card which acted like the "Voice Of The Council" special objective card. Basically, you vote someone the voice of the jedi council and they get a single victory point. The caveat is if anyone however should attack the person who is the "voice" of the precious council and wins a planetary invasion then that person takes his special objective card from him and gets a free victory point. Well, needless to say, I was eyeing Ross' dieing empire and felt I could make a run for a planet that Ross occupied with no infantry present - a sure kill. However, Tim sent a lumbering task force of 3 dreadnaughts, cruisers and carriers to attack Ross and he unfortunately took away my only hope of getting the voice of the council card from Ross.

At this point in the game, Tim sat on 4 victory points and was poised to seize additional public and secret objective points that would give him an additional 4 points - a solid lead in a low point game. But alas, I remembered what Bob said about occupying homeworlds and depriving the occupied player of victory points until it is liberated. Well, I convinced Tim that everything was fine when I had built up my task force of ships on Mecatol and picked the War Agenda giving me the "Red Alert" token. I had an admiral and general in my expeditionary fleet and decided I should indeed attack Tim's homeworld to deprive him of at least getting 50% more victory points. However, Tim felt suspicious of my intentions and parked several ships in my path to his homeworld thus depriving me of a clean path as ships cannot pass thru fleets without engaging them first in each system they occupy. It was the last turn of the game and thus I needed to invade in one fell swoop and wouldn't you know it, I got an action card that allowed me to move through his occupied systems undetected!

And so, I invaded Tim's homeworld much to his chagrin on the very last turn of the game. I occupied his homeworld after battling a few meager fighters and infantry on his home planet. As a result, I was able to take the Voice of the Council away from him and deprive him of additional victory points because he had no way of retaking the planet back before end of game. The final scores were Tim in first place with 4pts. Frank in 2nd with 3pts. Myself in 3rd with 2 points and Ross dead last with zero points.

I'm hoping I haven't ruptured Tim's faith and total confidence in my trustworthiness. Really, it was only to deprive him of points. He still won the game. Friends, right? Comrades right, ha ha?